Scottish Executive

Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 27 and 28 January 2003.

Ross Finnie: I attended the January Agriculture and Fisheries Council, together with Margaret Beckett, Elliot Morley, Lord Whitty, Ian Pearson, and Mike German. I was present on 27 January but returned from Brussels before the meeting concluded in order to handle the announcement of the fisheries compensation package on Tuesday 28 January.

  The Council began with the Greek Presidency presenting an outline of its priorities and planned work programme.

  On agriculture, the agenda covered two main areas, the Mid-term Review (MTR) of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and animal health.

  The Commission presented their draft legislative proposals for the CAP MTR which, with some modification, followed from their July 2002 proposals and subsequent debate. Member states gave their initial reactions and views varied widely. The UK emphasised the need for a sustainable CAP and welcomed the general direction of the proposals and the benefits they would bring to EU farmers although we would want to study the proposals in detail to assess their impact on particular sectors, such as beef. We noted, however, that the current modulation proposals put a disproportionate burden on larger and more efficient farms, and argued for a simpler, more equitable model. We also urged a faster and more substantial transfer of funds to rural development spending than proposed, including a fairer share of funds for the UK.

  The Commission presented a proposal for revision of EU measures to control and eradicate foot-and-mouth disease. The UK welcomed the opportunity to update the rules, while recognising that careful consideration of the issues would be needed before new strategies could be put in place.

  A Commission proposal for the individual identification of sheep and goats was also presented. The UK stressed the need for practical requirements which took account of the structure of the UK industry and the high level of animal movements associated with that.

  The Council unanimously agreed to ban the import of eggs and poultry from three US States where an outbreak of Newcastle Disease had occurred.

  The Commission's regular report on BSE-related developments identified that although there had been a significant increase in testing in 2002, the total number of cases identified was similar to that in 2001.

  Under other business, several delegations urged the Commission to keep the matter of processed poultry imports under review to ensure that there was no unfair exploitation of the discounted duty rates that apply. On GMOs, there was an exchange of views regarding the co-existence of GM and non-GM agriculture, with the UK supporting the case for fuller discussion but warning against attempts to impose a de facto moratorium on GM approvals. The Commission indicated that existing rules would continue to govern the approval of new GM products. New rules, following Council agreement in principle last November, were still under preparation and could not apply immediately.

  On fisheries, this was a very low-key Council agenda: Council adopted non-operational conclusions on two communications from the Commission and also received two initial presentations.

  The two sets of Council conclusions generally welcomed the Commission’s communications. The first related to the integration of environmental protection requirements into the common fisheries policy and the second related to a European strategy for the development of aquaculture.

  The presentations from the Commission concerned a communication on developing a framework for third country fisheries agreements and a proposal for a revised and consolidated technical conservation regulation.

  Under "any other business", Council heard reports of the current state of affairs relating to equal Community access in the Western waters.

Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers and staff attended the Agricultural and Fisheries Council meeting no. 2481 on 27 and 28 January 2003.

Ross Finnie: I attended the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting on 27 January 2003, but not on 28 January, when I had to be in Scotland and London on fisheries business. Up to four Scottish Executive officials were in support, covering both days of the Council.

Archives

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to local authorities regarding the preservation and display of, and access to, local archives.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 requires local authorities to consult the Keeper Of the Records of Scotland on proper arrangements for the preservation and management of their records and to have regard to what he says. In this role, successive keepers have offered general guidance to local authorities. This has included references to British Standards and other sources of best practice, as well as recommendations on the best local solutions for acquiring professional expertise. The archivists in Scottish Local Authorities Working Group also issues guidance on professional matters to its members.

Archives

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any audit of local archives has been conducted.

Mr Jim Wallace: The first major comprehensive survey of local authority archives took place in 1969-72. This survey is still occasionally referred to and forms a baseline for knowledge of some of the older records in local custody. It generally omitted from its coverage the Dean of Guild court records, an important historical source on buildings, but these were surveyed in a guide published in 1994. More recently, in 2000 there was a mapping exercise, An Archival Account of Scotland , which was conducted with administrative assistance from the National Archives of Scotland. In addition, the Archivists in Scottish Local Authorities Working Group has for many years compiled statistics on the usage of local authority archives.

Archives

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has regarding the preservation and display of, and access to, local archives.

Mr Jim Wallace: Archives at a local level are a local responsibility. However, the Scottish Executive is concerned to ensure that Scotland’s archival heritage is appropriately and securely preserved, maintained and publicly accessible, in line with statutory obligations and current best practice.

Archives

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding sources are available to (a) local authorities, (b) community councils, (c) independent trusts and (d) other parties for the preservation and display of, and access to, local archives.

Mr Jim Wallace: The provision of publicly accessible local archives is part of the routine business of a local authority and so should generally be funded from their existing resources. However, there are other sources of funding. The Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network (SCRAN) has been a source of grants for digitisation of records and associated work for a variety of organisations, including local archives. The National Archives of Scotland also provides small grants for conservation of archives and local archives have benefited from these.

  It is also open to local authorities to apply for other possible sources of funding for local archives, such as the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). A number of archive projects in Scotland have already benefited from awards from these funds. For example, the HLF-backed Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) project is assisting the automation and remote consultation of local archives by offering direct assistance to local authorities that join the network. Further information on these funds is available from the Lottery distributors.

  The Executive is not responsible for the funding of individual community councils – their funding comes primarily from local authorities – or for archives of independent trusts and other parties. However, it is also open to these bodies to apply to the NOF or HLF for funding for archives and other heritage projects.

Fisheries

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made that any compensation package for Scottish fisherman should be funded by HM Treasury on the same basis that savings in state benefits arising from the implementation of the Executive’s funding commitment for free personal care for the elderly were retained by HM Treasury.

Ross Finnie: Policy and related expenditure matters on Scottish fisheries are devolved and are for consideration by the Scottish Executive. The cost of the compensation package falls to be met from within the overall resources available to the Executive and there are no grounds on which additional resources might be sought from the UK Exchequer.

Flooding

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the ad hoc committee of Ministers on Flooding has had with the European Commission regarding flood alleviation assistance available through flexibility in the Common Agricultural Policy and European Structural Funds.

Mr Jim Wallace: The ad hoc Committee of Ministers on Flooding has had no discussions with the European Commission.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32836 by Malcolm Chisholm on 13 January 2003, whether practitioners will be encouraged to prescribe homeopathic medicines, given the cost of branded prescriptions, and what action is being taken to measure clinical effectiveness of homeopathy practice and medicine.

Malcolm Chisholm: As with all medicines, the decision on whether to prescribe a treatment for an individual patient depends on the clinical judgement of the clinician concerned, in consultation with the patient and bearing in mind the risks and benefits of the treatment.

  The Department of Health maintains a National Research Register with details of all on-going and recent medical research, including research into complementary medicine. This is available on regularly updated CD-ROM in the Parliament’s Reference Centre and online at:

  http://www.update-software.com/nrr/CLIBINET.EXE?A=1&U=1001&P=10001.

  The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland. The CSO funds projects largely in response mode and this role is well advertised throughout the medical and academic community. The CSO is not currently funding research on homeopathy because no proposals of a sufficiently high standard have been received on this subject. However, the CSO would be pleased to receive quality research applications on homeopathy which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review. Details about applying to the CSO for a research grant are available on the internet at www.show.scot.nhs.uk/cso.

Local Government Finance

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what economic analysis has been, or will be, undertaken of the impact on local government finances of building new schools through public private partnership rather than through government borrowing.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is for each local authority to analyse the impact of any public private partnership (PPP) projects on its finances, just as it would a conventional proposal. The Scottish Executive has offered to provide 80% revenue support for schools PPP projects, leaving the local authority to fund 20% from a variety of sources, including other Scottish Executive support mechanisms. The authority’s analysis should include examination of its total financial resources, taking into account prudent financial management and future spending/income estimates. PPPs are evaluated on a life-cycle basis – often over 25 to 30 years, and authorities now have to take a long-term view of affordability within their resource planning.

  The Scottish Executive has made clear that it does not hold any pre-conceived view about the balance between PPP and other forms of procurement. All relevant delivery routes must be considered by the accountable public authority in terms of the costs and benefits – including life-cycle economic impacts in accordance with the Treasury Green Book guidance – and a conclusion reached as to the best value for money approach. Each project is thus justified as sound use of public funds within affordable limits.

NHS Funding

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funds are being made available to NHS boards for 2003-04.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS boards have been given a unified budget of £4997.388 million, an average increase over the equivalent 2002-03 of 7.8%. Details of each NHS board’s allocation is as follows.

  
  Total 
Unified Budget Percentage 
Increase in Unified Budget  Health 
Board £ million
%  Argyll and 
Clyde 431.117
7.6  Ayrshire and 
Arran 381.474
8.5  Borders
108.307 8.6
 Dumfries and Galloway 
157.518 8.3
 Fife 327.832
8.3  Forth Valley
260.494 8.3
 Grampian
455.118 7.4
 Greater Glasgow
957.290 7.4
 Highland
221.795 8.9
 Lanarkshire
526.651 7.8
 Lothian
684.068 7.4
 Orkney
21.002 7.4
 Shetland
25.336 7.4
 Tayside
399.126 7.4
 Western Isles
40.260 7.4
 Total 4997.388
7.8 

  Note:

  The Unified Budget for 2003-04 and includes provision for Hospital and Community Health Services and the cost of drugs prescribed by general practitioners. Allocations for GP premises, computers and staff and Out of Hours Services have not yet been included.

  Allocations to Special Health Boards are as follows.

  
  Allocation(£ 
million) Percentage Increase(%)
 NHS Education for Scotland
198.839 7.4
 Common Services Agency
155.033 7.4
 Scottish Ambulance Service
117.155 7.4
 State Hospital
22.734 7.4
 NHS Quality Scotland
10.231 7.4
 Health Education Board for Scotland
8.435 7.4


  NHS 24 has been allocated £31.561 million, an increase of 40.7% to allow for the continuation of the roll-out of the service across Scotland.

  The National Waiting Times Centre has been allocated £16 million, an increase of 33.3% to reflect the need to meet the first full year costs of the centre.

NHS Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS trusts have (a) in-house and (b) private contracts for cleaning services.

Malcolm Chisholm: The current pattern of provision is shown in the table.

  Cleaning Services

  
 Trust Service 
PatternIn House (I/H) or Contracted Out (C/O)
Changes Since 1997  Argyll and 
Clyde Acute Hospitals  Mainly I/H (Royal 
Alexandra Hospital contracted out)  Royal 
Alexandra Hospital to come in house from 1/4/2003 
Lomond and Argyll Primary Care  I/H 
 Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Primary Care 
 I/H 
 Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals
I/H  
Ayrshire and Arran Primary Care  I/H (Except 
East Ayr Hospital)  
Dumfries and Galloway Acute and Maternity Hospitals
I/H  
Dumfries and Galloway Primary Care  I/H 
 North Glasgow University Hospitals 
I/H (except for Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Canniesburn Hospital)
Stobhill Hospital I/H since May 2002 
South Glasgow University Hospitals  I/H
Victoria Infirmary IH since Nov 2002 
The Yorkhill Trust I/H 
 Greater Glasgow Primary Care 
I/H Gartnavel Royal I/H since Oct 2001
 Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals 
Mix of C/O and I/H  Monklands IH since 
Oct 2002  Lanarkshire Primary Care 
 I/H 
 Tayside University Hospitals 
I/H C/O 1991, I/H 1998 
Tayside Primary Care  I/H
C/O 1995, I/H 1999  Fife Primary 
Care  I/H 
 Fife Acute Hospitals 
I/H C/O 97, I/H 2002 
Lothian University Hospitals  I/H (except 
New Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh) C/O 97, 
I/H 2000 (RIE Lauriston Place I/H 2000) 
Lothian Primary Care I/H 
Royal Edinburgh Hospital I/H since 2000 
Grampian University Hospitals I/H (except 
Woodend Hospital)  
Grampian Primary Care C/O 
 Highland Acute Hospitals
I/H  
Highland Primary Care I/H (except New 
Craigs Hospital)  
NHS Orkney I/H 
 NHS Shetland
C/O  
NHS Western Isles I/H 
 West Lothian Health Care Trust
I/H  
Forth Valley Acute Hospitals I/H 
 Forth Valley Primary Care
I/H  
Borders Primary Care I/H 
 Borders General Hospital
I/H

Prison Service

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken, or plans to take, towards the disposal of the former remand centre at Longriggend, Greengairs, North Lanarkshire.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS are in negotiation with a potential purchaser of the former remand institution at Longriggend.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-32815 and S1W-32816 by Hugh Henry on 13 January 2003, whether there has been any case where an incident at HM Prison Kilmarnock has been recorded as a serious assault for the purposes of the Scottish Prison Service’s key performance indicators, but where performance points have not accrued to the prison because an adjudication or criminal conviction has not been secured.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes, for the reasons set out in the question.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30372 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 November 2002, how many injuries have occurred in each prison that were reportable to the Health and Safety Executive in 2002-03 to date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The available information is as follows:

  
 Aberdeen
9  Barlinnie
36  Castle Huntly
1  Cornton Vale
8  Dumfries
6  Edinburgh
13  Glenochil
11  Greenock
10  Inverness
2  Low Moss
8  Noranside
1  Perth
5  Peterhead
2  Polmont
8  Shotts
19

Scottish Executive Advertising

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of each of its public information campaigns since 1999, broken down in each case by (a) internet and website design and hosting, (b) print media design and (c) broadcast media.

Mr Andy Kerr: The figures requested are as follows.

  
 1999-2000 (£) 
Campaign Press
Radio TV
Production Ambient
Cinema Web
 Electoral Registration
25,036  
750   
 Children’s Hearings
32,768 52,840 
29,156   
 Fire Prevention  
136,312 254,588   
 Tobacco Campaign   
10,404   
 NHS Fraud   
100,000   
 European Elections
30,218  
1,811   
 Food Safety
109,676  
9,008   
 Road Safety 
58,772 425,365
177,700 120,750
83,447  
Scotland’s Parliament 388,142
19,858 109,716
15,435   
 Childcare Helpline
31,921 31,921 
 Environment   
4,676   
 Teacher Recruitment
45,179 36,244 
14,999   
 Domestic Abuse
105,293 33,279
301,978 62,074  
6,169 

  
 2000-01 (£) 
Campaign Press
Radio TV
Production Ambient
Cinema Web
 Alcohol Abuse
220,900 
198,371
 Fire Prevention
144,060  
 Food Safety
 25,658  
 6,822   
 Lead in Water
 61,752  
 15,225   
 NHS Helpline
137,528  
 Road Safety 
84,307 951,170
 7130 55,059
152,895  7,561
 Safer Scotland
140,120  
 Fostering
 32,443  
 Flu/Winter Campaign
195,848 
428,760 352,387   
 Drug Enforcement Agency
 47,606   
7,129  
 Environment   
462,326   
 Domestic Abuse  
294,558 134,339
7,748  70,819 
 Children’s Hearings
 67,592 37,813 
 17,588   
 Child Care
119,917  
 12,102 
 511  
Organ Retention  53,596  
 2,100   
 Organ Donor Filler   
 48,465   
 Travel Awareness  
175,000 100,000  
25,000  NHS Fraud
121,942  
 NHS Public Appointments   
21,838   


   
2001-02 (£)  Campaign
Press Radio
TV Production
Ambient Cinema
Web  Children’s 
Hearings  166,723 
 33,032  40,476
 1,826  
 Drugs  
48,203  39,646
 809,116 659,127
 236,124  
42,420 30,738 
Flu  138,494 
389,074  63,950
 38,525  
 NHS Helpline
 110,495  
 1,967   
 NHS Fraud
 29,920  

 Prevention of Suicide 
 23,500 
 25,366  
 5,141  Alcohol 
Abuse  229,145  
260,712   
 Teacher Recruitment
 72,911 
238,054 
 Fire Prevention
 175,763  
39,008  82,694
 3,120   
 Domestic Abuse
 94,369 
287,039  57,392
109,708  60,103
23,500  Child Protection 
on the Internet  74,466
 59,735  
 10,273  41,829 
 Road Safety 
125,167 769,105
189,691 244,144
201,748  2,332
 Travel Awareness 
 29,174 132,188
243,553 155,648  
 Environment
 78,602 
490,858  9,542
 87,020 
89,295  Litter
118,934  
 Teaching in Scotland  
35,806  Healthy 
Eating   
 49,083   
 Digital Access   
 25,675   
 Funding for Learners   
 9,488  
14,488  Electoral 
Registration   
 4,838   
 National Care Standards   
 7,340   
 Performance Management Guide - Intranet   
 8,706   
 Scotland Online21st Century Govt.   
 15,667   


   
2002-date (£)  Campaign
Press Radio
TV Production
Ambient Cinema
Web  Digital Access
117,356 8,703 
23,907  
45,041  Alcohol 
Abuse  77,878
341,806 109,102
113,903 33,691 
 Children’s Hearings 
195,014 242,256 
48,325 2,347  
 Concessionary Fares
133,642 
107,448 21,206
117,675  
 Crime Braker
20,273  
 Domestic Abuse
128,622 
365,380 89,940  
2,526  Drugs Campaign
127,106 38,205
692,975 45,957
64,342 26,492
31,338  Environment
24,809 
244,093 261,485  
52,877  Fire Prevention
98,861 36,317
84,001 2,348   
 Flu Campaign
126,711 
341,359 339,136
62,480  
 Free Personal Care
243,940  
8,785   
 Funding for Learners
68,586 31,632 
 Glasgow Housing Association
14,936   
16,514  
 M74 Completion Project
5,936 2,458 
10,398  
21,914  National 
Debate 99,127
92,031 
58,634 37,560 
3,613  NHS Helpline
120,813  
4,063   
 Organ Retention
80,671  
4,471   
 Organ Donation   
940   
 Prevention of Suicide
34,125 34,564 
633 22,916  
 Racism 
40,788 351,199
601,713 203,214
24,793 38,775
 Road Safety
15,784 125,727
785,349 217,354
100,891 51,629 
 Travel Awareness 
59,181 331,278
72,437 91,943 
9,751  UEFA   
4,943 2,087  
 Teaching   
9,888  
273  Healthy Eating  
217,402 268,079  
2,820  Social Care
221,529 
111,235 168,794  
34,762  Scottish 
International Forum  
37,083  Tartan 
Day   
37,554  
15,275  Regional 
Selective Assistance   
17,625  
15,980  Child Protection 
on the Internet 
62,519  
386 39,736 
 Safer Scotland
65,342 57,171 
42,547

Scottish Executive Advertising

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30674 by Mr Andy Kerr on 13 November 2002, when the review of its planned advertising expenditure from January to March 2003 will be completed and whether it will report its conclusions to the Parliament.

Mr Andy Kerr: The review of advertising expenditure started in late August has been completed and the First Minister has decided on a reduction of 25%. This reduction will apply to expenditure planned earlier this financial year for the period January to March 2003. For 2003-04, expenditure will be set at 25% less than the total for 2002-03.

Scottish Executive Advertising

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) projected and (b) actual spending on advertising has been by each of its departments in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: Advertising expenditure for the years in question have been paid for by departments out of their programme budgets. In some cases projections for expenditure are known from the start of the financial year, for example the flu campaign which cost £806,646 in the current year. In other cases the need for a campaign may not be identified or agreed until sometime into the financial year. In such cases the projected expenditure will be estimated at the start, and finalised at the end of the planning and development phase. Some campaigns can take a considerable time to develop - an example is the Race campaign which spanned two financial years before it was run in autumn 2002.

  Once expenditure has been agreed it is closely monitored to ensure costs remain within the budget set.

  From 2003-04 control of advertising expenditure will be centralised and departments will make an application, supported by a business case, for funds allocated from a central budget.

  The figures requested for actual spending on advertising by departments are as follows.

  
 1999-2000 
Campaign Total Advertising 
Expenditure  Development 
Department  Road Safety
£868,800  Education 
Department  Children’s Hearings 
 £121,260 
Teacher Recruitment £96,422
 Home and Health Department
 Tobacco Campaign
£10,404  NHS Fraud
£100,000  Electoral 
Registration £25,786
 Fire Prevention
£390,900  European 
Elections £32,029
 Census
£9,993  Childcare 
Helpline £73,675
 Domestic Abuse
£550,197  Environment 
and Rural Affairs Department  Food 
Safety £118,682 
Environment £11,667
 Constitution Group
 Scotland’s Parliament
£533,151 

  
 2000-01 
Campaign Total Advertising Expenditure
 Health Department
 Alcohol Abuse
£471,970  Flu/winter 
campaign £1,058,365
 Organ Retention
£55,696  Organ 
Donor Filler £48,465
 NHS Helpline
£137,528  NHS Fraud
£121,942  NHS Public 
Appointments £36,549
 Development Department
 Road Safety
£1,267,048  Justice 
Department  Safer Scotland
£162,826  Fire 
Prevention £174,022
 Drug Enforcement Agency
£54,735  Domestic 
Abuse £507,464 
Crime Prevention £11,750
 Fostering
£32,443  Education 
Department  Teacher Recruitment
£27,024  Children’s 
Hearings £122,993
 Child Care
£132,530  Environment 
Department  Environment
£501,364  Lead 
in Water £76,977
 Development Department 
Travel Awareness £318,809
 Rural Affairs Department
 Food Safety
£32,480 

  
 2001-02 
Campaign Total Advertising Expenditure
 Health Department
 Drugs £1,967,133
 Flu £630,043
 NHS Helpline
£112,462  NHS Fraud
£29,920  Prevention 
of Suicide £79,384
 Alcohol Abuse
£513,176  Healthy 
Eating £51,122 
National Care Standards £7,340
 Education Department
 Children’s Hearings
£250,732  Teacher 
Recruitment £322,799
 Child Protection on the Internet
£186,303  Funding 
for Learners £9,488
 Digital Access
£33,882  Justice 
Department  Fire Prevention
£334,708  Racism
£14,394  Domestic 
Abuse £650,553 
Development Department 
Road Safety £1,537,994
 Travel Awareness
£585,613  Environment 
Department  Environment
£767,497  Litter
£118,934  FCSD
 Electoral Registration
£4,838  Performance 
Management Guide - Intranet £8,706
 Scotland Online21st Century Govt
£15,667 

  
 2002-date 
Campaign Total Advertising Expenditure
 Health Department
 Alcohol Abuse
£683,311  Drugs 
Campaign £995,077
 Flu Campaign
£923,503  Free 
Personal Care £252,725
 NHS Helpline
£124,876  Organ 
Donor £24,440 
Organ Retention £85,142
 Prevention of Suicide
£92,238  Healthy 
Eating £495,386 
Justice Department 
Crime Braker £23,093
 Domestic Abuse
£601,602  Racism
£1,245,207  Safer 
Scotland £165,060
 Fire Prevention
£228,197  Education 
Department  Digital Access
£149,966  Children’s 
Hearings  £537,986
 Funding for Learners
£100,218  National 
Debate £373,127 
Teaching £9,888
 Home Reading
£14,554  Social 
Care £525,588 
UEFA £7,030 
Child Protection on the Internet £102,641
 Development Department
 Concessionary Fares
£393,343  Travel 
Awareness £555,150
 Road Safety
£1,296,734  Glasgow 
Housing Association £31,450
 M74 Completion
£18,792  Environment 
Department  Environment
£561,385  Enterprise 
and Lifelong Learning Department  Regional 
Selective Assistance £29,043
 Finance and Central Services 
Department  Tartan Day
£37,554

Scottish Executive Advertising

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30674 by Mr Andy Kerr on 13 November 2002, what its planned expenditure on advertising is for each month from January to April 2003.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is not possible to breakdown total advertising expenditure for each month from January to March because items such as production and printing will, in some cases, have been invoiced and paid for in previous months. While some campaign expenditure has yet to be finalised, currently the committed expenditure on media buying for each month from January to March 2003 is:

  
 January
£978,898  February
£306,835  March
£180,698 

  The final level of expenditure for January to March will be at least 25% less than previously planned.

Scottish Executive Staff

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27243 by Mr Andy Kerr on 29 July 2002, whether all executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies will have completed an equal pay review by April 2003.

Mr Andy Kerr: All executive agencies and non-departmental bodies are aware of the requirement set out in the Scottish Executive’s Public Sector Pay Guidelines to complete an equal pay review by April 2003. The Scottish Executive expects bodies to adhere to this timetable.

Sewel Motions

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-32797 and S1W-32400 by Patricia Ferguson and Mr Jim Wallace on 21 and 20 January 2003 respectively, how the answer to S1W-32400 which states that legal advice was obtained is consistent with the answer to S1W-32797 which states that by long-standing convention its general policy is that it does not disclose whether it has taken legal advice.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information indicates that certain categories of information are exempt from the commitment to provide information, including internal discussion and advice.

  By longstanding convention, the general policy of the Scottish Executive is that it does not disclose legal advice or whether legal advice has been or will be obtained.

  In relation to the answer to question S1W-32400, I was satisfied that it was appropriate on that occasion to disclose that legal advice had been obtained and the reason for doing so.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliament Contracts

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-25368 on 1 May 2002, whether the new contract for mail services in the Parliament has now been awarded and, if so, to which provider it has been awarded.

Sir David Steel: The mail and messenger services contract was first competitively tendered in 1999 when the Parliament was established and subsequently awarded to Royal Mail plc. The decision not to employ an in-house messenger service was taken in 1998, prior to the services being tendered. This contract is now due to be re-let and has been tendered in two lots; the off-site mail screening and the on-site messenger delivery, as these are two discrete service elements. Either one contract for the whole service or a contract for each lot will be awarded depending on the outcome of the evaluation process, which will take account of the quality of the service and best overall value for money.

  Tender submissions are still being evaluated. The aim is to test not only the financial information in bids, but also to ensure that the high standard of service which members have come to expect, including integrity and security, will be delivered. No decision has been made on the award of either lot and the decision is not expected for some months.

Parliament Contracts

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Presiding Officer , further to his answer to question S1W-25368 on 1 May 2002, when the existing contract with the Royal Mail for the provision of mail services in the Parliament will expire and what the effective start date will be for the new contract.

Sir David Steel: The existing contract for mail and messenger services expires when the Parliament moves to Holyrood and does not contain provision for extension beyond this.

  The timetable for the current tender exercise for the new contract should enable the contract to be awarded by early summer. This will allow the successful contractor(s) sufficient time to work with the Migration Team to set up their service provision for delivery to coincide with the Parliament’s move to Holyrood.